Seeing the Signs
by nevernatallie
Summary: When Casey gets into a serious car-wreck and loses her hearing, her annoying (yet ASL fluent) step-brother Derek shows her the ropes on how to handle her new life, and they bond in a way they never expected. Dasey. Rated T for now, may go up.
1. Chapter 1

Her whole world crashed around her. Or maybe it was just the car turning upside down. She wasn't sure anymore. One minute her best friend Emily and she were singing along to "Thanking of You", the next minute the car was flipped over, and her ears rang with the volume of a million of Derek's stupid scream-o bands. She turned to her left to see Emily in the driver's seat, bleeding profusely from her head, and barely holding onto consciousness.

"Em?" she tried to say. She knew she said it, but she could not hear it over the obnoxious ringing in her ears that dominated every sound. The girls dangled in the upside-down car. The other driver seemed to have left and hot tears of rage and pain swelled up in the girl's eyes. She spotted her cellphone on the roof of the car, and grabbed it. She brushed the car's ceiling with her hand and felt sticky blood on her finger-tips, and realized it was her own. Her hair was soaked in it as it streamed from her ears. The ringing in them faded, but as she dialed 911, she heard nothing on the other line. Just quiet ringing. She hung up the phone in frustration and dialed a new number.

Her ears strained to do their job, pick up on the sound of the numbers being clicked, of sirens in the air, of anything, but they failed her. Despite her inability to hear, she spoke into the phone.

"Derek!?" she shouted, unaware of how loud her voice was.

"Listen I hope you're there because I can't hear shit right now! Em and I got into a car wreck on East 18th, I need you to get an ambulance and get Em to a hospital, and she's unconscious and bleeding really badly! God, I hope you're there… Please come for me. I can't hear and I'm bleeding from my ears I'm so confused, and I need your help."

Across town, the boy with the light brown hair with the usually villainous smirk on his face was now wearing an unfamiliar look of terror.

"Case! Case, can you hear me!? Come on Spacey, please hear me! Nora's calling an ambulance, I'm on my way right now. Hold on, okay? I will be right there, I promise." Derek spoke pointlessly into the receiver. He was grateful his younger siblings were out of the house, and his dad was at work. He didn't want to freak out in front of them. Derek panicked and nearly dropped his keys as he put them into the ignition. Nora hopped in the passenger seat and let out a shaky breath. She didn't need to tell Derek to step on it, they both knew he would. She let out quiet tears as the smell of the rubber from Derek's tires overcame the car. She couldn't be strong.

Nora's eldest step-son looked at her. His step-mom was truly vulnerable in front of him for the first time. As the tears streamed down her face, Derek took one hand off the steering wheel, and took her hand in his. Neither of them commented on the gesture. They both knew what it meant to her. A car honked at Derek and he let out a low growl as he sped down the highway. Nora flicked her eyes to him in surprise. Perhaps all these years of fighting were just their way of showing affection for one another. She knew this was an emergency, but she never thought she'd see her step-son worry so much over her daughter. It was a nice patch of light in the dark sky of this situation. Perhaps they could be a family after all. That was assuming Casey made it… no, she couldn't think that way. Casey would make it. Her daughter was a fighter.

She wasn't surprised when they made it there faster than the ambulance. Derek did some red-light running of his own on the way there. Derek was already by Casey's side when Nora caught up to him.

"Derek, get me out of here," she groaned, barely holding on. He shook his head.

"I can't… my English teacher was an EMT once. Unless the car is gonna catch fire, you're not supposed to move somebody out of it. If you have any spinal damage and I move you, you could get some serious damage to your back," he explained. He held her hand and she gripped it tight enough to make him hurt. Nora looked surprised at him for his knowledge and she stroked her daughter's shoulder from outside the shattered car window. Casey, however, looked at him with confusion. She shook her head lightly.

"I can't hear you…" she whispered, terrified. He looked deep into her eyes with a look that conveyed one thing.

_Hold on._

She nodded, understanding. She reached out her other hand to Emily's and held onto it despite the fact the girl was unconscious. Nora's eyes suddenly widened.

"I have to call Emily's parents and tell them. I will be right back!" She gave Casey's shoulder a comforting squeeze and walked away. Casey looked at Derek questioningly. He raised his hand to his ear with a pinky and thumb sticking out in the universal "phone" gesture, then pointed to Emily, and then mouthed to her slowly "MOM" and "DAD". He figured she could read those words better than "parents" or "family". She nodded. Derek was fluent in American Sign Language, but Casey knew none of it. It was the only class he liked. Suddenly he heard the sirens and perked up, looking around. Casey tapped his cheek with her hand.

"What are you hearing?" she asked. He mouthed, "HELP." She smiled a weak smile, and let her eyes flutter shut. Derek flicked her on the nose and her eyes shot open.

"Stay awake!" he said, emphasizing the words with his mouth. She rolled her eyes and he smiled. She would be okay. The EMT's approached and Derek got out of the way so they could do their job. He went to find Nora, and saw George fumble out of his car, running towards him.

"Is she okay?" he asked his son, eyes filled with worry. Derek looked at him curiously. He didn't realize his dad cared about Nora's kids so much. He nodded.

"Spacey's conscious anyway. Emily's not. They're loading them both up as we speak to take them to the hospital. One of us can ride with her, but we've gotta figure it out now. Nora's trying to contact Em's family."

"Go with them. I'll take Nora when she's done talking to Emily's family," George said to his son with a sound of authority in his voice Derek only knew to come out in dire situations. His memory flew back to when Edwin accidentally roller skated into the pool on a freezing cold day. George instructed him to draw him a hot bath in exactly that tone just before he dived into the pool to save Edwin. When his dad put on that voice, you didn't question. In this case, he wouldn't have either way.

Derek ran into the back of the ambulance, and quick as lightning the car took off at maximum speed. He held onto his step-sister's hand. Neither made any more attempts to communicate verbally. They just squeezed each other's hand and he gave her a reassuring smile. She gave a half-hearted one back.


	2. Chapter 2

The Macdonald-Venturi clan sat in the waiting room anxiously. Edwin brought Derek a Dr. Pepper from the vending machine, and he accepted it nonchalantly. Emily's family sat across from them with worried looks across their faces. Emily's father and George chatted away about "finding the asshole who hit them and hitting him with the book of the law." Derek tuned them out. That does nothing at this point. He put in his headphones, and held a sleeping Marti in his arms. A doctor in a very official-looking coat came out of the room.

"Are you Emily Davis' family?" he asked the group. Derek took out an earphone to listen. Emily's father stood and shook his hand, nodding.

"Emily will be fine. She lost a lot of blood, but luckily she was eligible for a transfusion. She's resting right now, but you can go in and see her when she wakes up," he said, officially. He jumped when Emily's mother gave him a giant hug and he patted her back uncomfortably. The doctor let out a shaky breath before proceeding. This never got easier with time.

"I presume you all are Casey Macdonald's family?" The family nodded.

"Your daughter will survive, that is the good part. I'm amazed she held onto consciousness as long as she did."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here, Doctor?" Nora asked quietly. Lizzie held onto her mother's hand tightly.

"The damage to her hearing is irreversible. There's nothing we can do about it. I'm afraid your daughter will be deaf the rest of her life." All but a single member of the family looked horrified. The eldest son let out a relieving, "Thank God." They all looked at him with horror.

"She's going to survive! Being deaf won't mean the end of the world for her. She's going to survive. She's going to survive," he repeated the phrase quietly to himself. The family nodded, but it was a fake understanding. How could losing your hearing not be dreadful for your existence? How would Casey go to school, would they pick up sign language, would she lose friends? Did this mean she was disabled? Could she no longer go to a university with people that could hear? Derek saw these questions fly through the faces of his family members and he closed his eyes in frustration. Derek went to many deaf events, had deaf friends, and even rocked out with members of deaf bands. He knew all the misconceptions, and they'd have to learn.

"There's one more thing," the doctor said.

"What!? What more could you possibly have to tell us?" Lizzie said, choking on a sob. Nora held her in tight, and Lizzie buried her sobs into her mother's shoulder.

"Which one of you is Derek?" the doctor asked, initially looking toward George. Derek stood up, taking Marti in his arms and setting her in Edwin's lap. The doctor sighed, annoyed.

"Boyfriend?"

"_Step-Brother._" Derek said. He didn't like the doctor's tone.

"Oh. Well, your sister wants to see you. We tried to encourage her to rest, but she insisted that she talk to Derek first." His tone calmed. Derek understood now. He thought it wasn't right for Casey to prioritize seeing her boyfriend before her family. That angered him. He was in no place to judge Casey for who she wanted to see or not.

"Step-sister," he muttered as he walked past the doctor.

The room was slightly cold, and unwelcoming. The open window made Derek roll his eyes. She always needed the window open. Casey laid on her back in her hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, quiet tears falling down her cheeks. He shuddered at the sight. He didn't do tears. Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back. He turned to face the door, but he heard her voice. It wasn't strong, it wasn't independent. It wasn't the voice that screeched, "De-rek!" or the voice that uttered a strong, "You underestimated me. Good. Keep doing that," the words that first earned his respect for her as an opponent. All he heard was the voice of a scared teenage girl whose life just changed monumentally.

"Derek?" He turned back to her, and walked to her bedside. She was speaking a lot quieter now. Perhaps one of the nurses told her she was shouting before. He's glad they did it because he didn't want to have to be the person to tell her that. It would be like rubbing it in her face that she lost the ability to even hear her own voice.

"Do you have your phone?" she asked. He nodded, looking puzzled. He took it from his jacket pocket and unlocked it for her. She opened the Notes tab and began to type.

**Sorry. I don't really feel like talking when I can't even hear myself. Is mom okay?** Derek took back the phone and they began the first of many conversations thanks to this convenient app.

**Yeah, Nora is okay. She's just… stressed about you losing your hearing. She'll be alright, though.**

**What about Emily?**

**She will be okay. She's resting, but she's okay. Lost a lot of blood, but fine.**

**That's good.**

**Case, why am I here? Shouldn't you be resting and dreaming happy dreams of academic achievement or panicking nightmares about sleeping after 9 pm and getting a B?** Casey glared at him, and he laughed. She grinned in return.

**Ha ha, Venturi. I wanted to ask you a favor.**

**Does it require me seducing a young, attractive blonde? That I can do.**

**No, you creep. Are you fluent in sign language?**

**Nearly…**

**I wanted to know if you'd teach me some. **Derek took a moment to respond to this. He looked in her eyes and they pleaded with him.

**Why don't you take classes instead?**

**I don't want to go to some class with a bunch of people that will make me frustrated and feel stupid. You may drive me crazy, but at least you'll be patient with me. I know you know what you're doing. Please, D?**

**I dunno. How hard a beating will my rep take when they find out I'm tutoring a keener?**

**You know what? Forget it. Forget I even asked.** Derek laughed and tapped her nose gently. He was mocking her! She turned away from him angrily. Suddenly, he gave her the phone with one final message typed out.

**I'm KIDDING, Spacey. Of course I'll help you. The best way to learn is to get immersed in the community, though. I have a few deaf and HOH friends we can hang with.**

**HOH?**

**Hard of Hearing. I'll teach you all that stuff, too. It's just as important as the signing.** She looked in his eyes and nodded, then locked the phone and put it in his lap. She turned on her side and gave him a half-hearted smile. She signed the only sign she knew how to do.

_Thank you._

He nodded, and could see her struggling to keep her eyes open. He stood up to let her sleep. As he put in his headphones yet again, he gained a new sense of appreciation towards the devices. Casey would never get the full experience of listening to music again. He put on Casey's favorite- "Into Your Arms" by the Maine, and walked down the hallway to go rejoin his family, and look up information on how to properly tutor ASL.

**A/N: I wanted to start this story off with two chapters just because I know exposition can be dull to read, so I hope I set it up well and you want to continue reading! Reviews make me smile. Expect the third chapter up tomorrow. **** Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: As promised, chapter three. ASL is in italics, writing is in bold. Thank you to everybody who reviewed, favorited, and followed!

A week ago, the room was foreign territory. His cave was a place she had only visited a handful of instances, and it certainly wasn't somewhere she wanted to spend a lot of time. A week ago, she sat up far too straight at the foot of the bed with rigid movements of discomfort. She had searched his eyes deeply for signs of foul play, trying to figure out if he was really going to help her, or if he was going to pull a stupid prank like teaching her that curse words were nice ones and setting her loose at a deaf event. A week ago, they didn't know what to do around each other as she struggled to duplicate his hand positioning for the alphabet.

But that was a week ago. Now, he was all she had. It wasn't just because he was teaching her sign language, it was more than that. Lizzie and her mom had come into her room to try to communicate with her. They hoped she could read their lips, but the words of what she assumed to be comfort and love escaped her completely. She didn't know if she would ever be able to understand what those she loved the most were thinking. Talking to everybody in that house had become a chore, with the exception of one.

He didn't force her to talk. Everybody expected her to use her vocal chords even though she couldn't hear herself, but he didn't. Before he even began teaching her, they had an unspoken, yet established system of non-verbal discussion. A brief movement of an eyebrow, a twinge of a smile, or a quizzical glance could communicate to her exactly what he wanted to say. It wasn't surprising to either of them. Ever since they met, it was all about the dance. All the important things they had to say to each other were never spoken by words. They relied on wit to talk, yes, but everything they needed to say was in their movements. Walking in circles, glaring at each other with challenging eyes. A smirk and the raise of an eyebrow, it was all a part of their dance. Their spoken language was gone, but they didn't need that. They never did.

A week ago, she sat rigid on the foot of his bed. Now, she sprawled out on the pillows as he spun in his chair at his desk. She was reading The Shining as he tapped his pencils to music blasting into his ears from his headphones. Neither of them questioned why she was in there. It had become an unspoken rule around the house that Casey's bedroom, aside from the night, was usually empty; its inhabitant betraying it for the darker room next door. She felt comfortable being in a room with somebody she could speak to, at least a bit with her knowledge of the alphabet and basic words like "What", "Food", and "Stupid" (her favorite word to use with him of all). If her family came to talk to her, it was comforting knowing he was there to interpret as best he could.

Casey was entranced in the novel until a piece of paper came flying at her head in a crumpled up ball. She glared at him pointedly, but he pretended not to see her from the corner of his eye. Tap, tap, tap his pencil hit his desk over and over. She opened up the paper and smoothed out the wrinkles to see a message scribbled in her step-brother's appalling chicken scratch.

**Whatcha doin, Keener? Isn't that book a little too old for you? I don't know if your Hello Kitty night-light will help you sleep after reading that.**

She wrote her own note down, wadded up the paper, and sent it flying across the room to his hand. This was the routine they established in the last seven days, and it was an effective one at that.

**Like you've bothered reading it.**

**I've seen the movie!**

**Stephen King says the movie doesn't cover nearly the amount of material the book does.**

**Well it looks like it's about a bazillion pages, so what does he expect?**

**Don't bad-mouth the master of horror, Derek! It's bad karma.**

Back and forth the paper went flying, the wrinkles getting further and further indented into the page.

**I'm not bad-mouthing him, Spacey. I'm just concerned for your well-being. What if you can't sleep and come knocking on my door in the middle of the night? I don't want to have to see your face when I slam the door in it. That's just uncomfortable.**

**Is there a reason you sent this note flying at my head like a freak plane accident, or did you have something productive to say?**

Derek sighed as he read the message. He never could distract her.

**I think it's time you met Calvin, Case… it'd just be the three of us and talking to him would teach you way faster than us going over basic phrases in my bedroom ever could.**

"Ah, Calvin," she thought. She had never met the boy, but Derek mentioned him a lot around the dinner table. He was one of Derek's best friends. He played for the hockey team of the local deaf high school, and they made fast friends when Derek had to interpret at a game. His name daunted her, though he never did anything wrong to her. She was afraid of meeting any deaf people- any _other_ deaf people. What if he mocked her for her bad signing?

**I'm not ready. I barely know the alphabet, Derek… what if he makes fun of me?**

**Of course he's gonna make fun of you. I'm gonna tell him to.**

**Derek!**

**I'm kidding. I promise he will be patient with you. Tonight, Smelly Nelly's? We can just go for dinner with him and if you feel too self-conscious, fake a migraine or something and we'll bail. Okay?**

**Fine… but you're paying.**

**In your dreams, Space Case.**

Dinner is a whole new experience when one can't hear. Casey didn't even know how her voice sounded. Growing up, her childhood friend's mom was deaf, and her voice always sounded just a little bit off even though she attended speech therapy.

"Is that how I sound?" she found herself wondering. She wanted to ask Derek, but didn't want to sound snobby. It's not like she thought it made deaf people sound stupid or anything, but she just wanted to know if she still had that part of herself. She only spoke once in a while when she got tired of writing her notes to Derek, but he was the only person she used her voice around. Even then, he never asked her to.

Smelly Nelly's was packed, and she knew it must have been booming with sound. She did a quick scan of the room and was relieved to find nobody she knew was there. The only person she had seen since she got out of the hospital was Emily, and she wanted to keep it that way for a while. Luckily, it was summer, and she didn't have the responsibility of school flying over her head just yet. Derek and she followed an all-too-friendly waitress to a booth. The girl gave Derek an overly desperate smile that nearly made Casey vomit. They both took one side of the booth, leaving the other clear for Derek's mystery friend. She looked to his face to see a disgruntled expression. She nudged him with her elbow and gave him a questioning look. He pulled out his phone.

**You're bad for my rep.**

**What!? How!? We just sat down!**

**That girl thought I was your boyfriend. Only couples sit next to each other at a two-seat booth.**

**What a difficult life you lead, D. I'm shocked and amazed you make it every day with these kinds of dire problems.**

Derek read the message and stuck his tongue out at her. He saw the waitress approaching and Casey grabbed his wrist and dug her nails in. He suppressed a yelp.

"Ow! What!?" He said out loud. His step-sister gave him a look of panic.

"Order for me! Water!" she pleaded in his ear. He nodded when he realized this was the first time Casey had left the house since her new-found life change. He smacked her hand off his wrist, and she let go with a glare.

"Hey there! What can I get you two to drink?" she asked politely. Casey tried to follow, but caught only "drink". She squeezed her eyes shut, frustrated at herself. Why couldn't she pick this up?

"Two waters, thanks," Derek said and signed at the same time. It was only polite to let Casey in on his half of the conversation at least. The waitress looked surprised, but nodded and sauntered off.

Suddenly, a blonde boy a little taller than Derek approached. Derek got up and grinned.

"_Calvin! Hey!"_

The boy did a motion Casey didn't understand, but she caught the rest.

"_Hey Derek! This is your sister?"_

"_STEP-sister. Casey, this is Calvin,"_ Derek introduced the two.

"_It's nice to meet you. What is this?"_ She smiled, shaking his hand, then doing the unfamiliar motion.

"_It's Derek's name sign. Arrogant with a D. Like it?"_ he smiled, taking his seat.

"_I love it," _she smiled, poking Derek in the ribs.

The boy made light conversation, and Casey was shocked to see how easy it was to follow what he was saying. Derek had earlier explained to her that some signs looked like what they meant. "Baseball" looked like holding a bat. "Face" was tracing a circle around your face. "Book" looked like opening a book. Words like this made everything easier to follow, and she knew Derek and Calvin were going particularly slow for her convenience. Either way, "hearies" as Calvin called them looked on with amazement. I guess she could see the appeal. To her, Derek had always been a slacker with no drive. As she watched his hands move with fluid speed, she found herself getting swept away by the beauty of the language, and even though she didn't care to admit it, the beauty of how he looked while doing it.

"Half of ASL is the things you say, and half of it is how you say them," he had told her earlier. She didn't understand then, but now she did more than ever. He usually kept the same nonchalant, cocky expression when dealing with almost anybody except for Marti. This language wouldn't allow that. His face lit up with a plethora of expressions that matched his every word. If he were describing a situation of minor annoyance, his tongue stuck out in disgust and his hands flew every which way to get his point across, and Calvin reciprocated with just as much emotion.

The boys discussed hockey, caught up with each other, and tried to get Casey as involved as possible. Calvin asked her a whole bunch of questions.

"_What's your favorite color? Do you like living with Derek? Don't let anybody give you a name sign yet, I want to do it! There's a deaf event Saturday, you two should come by. That waitress over there is giving you the evil eye. I think she wants Derek. Derek, man, she wants you. God, where is my food?"_

Casey found herself laughing along with Calvin at Derek's embarrassment, and they must have been loud because their volume warranted glares from the hearing people at a nearby table. Derek looked amused when I blushed and retreated into the wall at their glares.

"_Don't let them make you uncomfortable, Case. That guy over there has the most obnoxious New York accent I've ever heard. He thinks everybody in here wants to know the story about how he called the Superbowl results. They're being louder than both of your laughs combined."_ Derek told her. She was shocked. He was almost being nice… no, in fact, he was being nice.

Casey nodded, and her blush subsided a bit. Calvin nudged her with his elbow.

"_Don't let assholes get you down. You know how many deaf dudes are gonna want you now? Trust me, Casey, this is a blessing in disguise. You don't have to listen to annoying New York City investment douchebags talk about their life story like Derek here. Plus, you got to meet me. Which, let's be honest, is the biggest blessing of all."_ Casey rolled her eyes, but smiled. She didn't catch all of what he said, but she caught enough of it to know he was being cocky.

"_He's a lot like you,"_ Casey signed to Derek.

"_He wishes!"_ he teased.

Casey took a backseat role the rest of dinner, only signing when their mutual arrogance became too much that she just had to deflate their egos even a bit. She agreed that Derek and her would go to the deaf event that weekend, if any reason just to meet Calvin's girlfriend and get to know a couple of his friends. She wasn't ready to do a lot of the signing yet, but she was willing to get to know people she was sure she'd know very well by the time she left for university.

"_Us deafies gotta stick together, Casey. There's not many of us around here, you know,"_ Calvin told her with a friendly smile.

Casey sat and observed the two boys as they signed away without taking her eyes off them. The precision of every motion entranced her. She couldn't help but look impressed by Derek's ability to get his messages across one-handed as he ate messily with the other. He caught her staring with awe, and winked at her mockingly.

"_Can't take your eyes off my beauty?"_ he asked. She rolled her eyes, and held her head down.

"_You wish, Derek,"_ she used his name-sign and grinned. He held his hand to his chest like she had just wounded him and feigned falling backwards. Calvin looked at them, amused. It didn't take signing for them to understand each other. All it took was a glance here, a poke there, and a strange telepathic communication came between them. He was happy to see it. Casey's transition would be a rough one. He knew a few people that went deaf later in life with families that didn't know any ASL. She didn't know it yet, he thought, but Casey was going to need Derek to help her more than she even knew. In that moment, just long enough to bring Calvin's thoughts back to focus on what was going on in front of him, Casey and Derek began to throw their noodles at each other in a combination of playfulness and spite. They never could stop this dance.

A/N: Reviews make me happy! Chapter 4 will be up tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Shit I forgot I needed to put these. I do not own Life with Derek.

A/N: I got in trouble for writing this by hand during class, so I hope it's worth it. Enjoy! Also, the song is Transatlantacism by Death Cab for Cutie and I highly encourage you listen to it when reading. It was my inspiration for the chapter.

Derek understood why she never left his side; she was scared to go anywhere without him. She had always been so fiercely independent, but the fear of experiencing an awkward silence after having to ask her friends or family to go slower when they spoke kept her glued to his hip. He didn't mind as much as he thought he would, actually. Having her with him even if she quietly wrote as he watched hockey wasn't disrupting him, so he let it continue. A couple of days after their dinner with Calvin, Derek noticed his usual shadow was gone. She wasn't in the shower, she wasn't in the kitchen, and she wasn't sprawled across his comforter like the bed thief she was. There was only one place left.

He approached the door of her usually-abandoned room. The only time Casey returned to her room was to sleep, get dressed, or fume when Derek said something mean (only to return a few minutes later). He hesitated. Knocking was redundant at this point, so the only way to find out if he was welcome to come in was to take the plunge and enter. Hopefully she wouldn't throw a book at him. If she did, he hoped it was paper-back.

Derek wasn't sure what he expected when he walked into the cold room, but it wasn't this. He saw a dreaded sight that made him cringe: Casey hugging her pillow and crying so hard she couldn't even take a breath or make a sound. She faced the ceiling, and didn't see him enter. He could walk out right then, and she wouldn't even know, after all he didn't do tears. Something kept him from leaving, though, a nagging voice in his head that urged him to comfort her.

"Dammit, Derek, what is happening," he said out loud to himself. He rolled his shoulders back, prepared for the waterworks. He approached her bed and tapped her shoulder gently. She sat up, wiping her eyes as fast as she could, as if he hadn't already seen her tears.

"_What's wrong?"_ he asked.

"_Nothing,"_ she answered, getting out of bed and crossing her room for tissues. Derek sat on the bedspread awkwardly. This wasn't their usual territory. The middle-ground was his room; their truce didn't expand past those four walls. He looked at her expectantly and tapped the empty space on the bedspread next to him. She raised an eyebrow at the motion, but didn't comment as she joined him on the edge of the bed. Their elbows touched, but nothing else, and Derek tapped his foot on the floor nervously. He felt awkward as he looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Should he ask again? What if she didn't want to tell him? What if she laughed at him for caring? Not that he did.

"_I will never dance again," _she signed to him. Derek nodded in understanding even though he probably never could truly get it. The only thing that could come close would be if he were somehow unable to play hockey again, and that was unfathomable. He put a gentle hand on her back and patted it lightly twice.

This exchange was two days ago, and they never mentioned it again. Ever since her moment of weakness in the pink room, Derek was determined to show Casey that she could still dance. He began with Calvin. He didn't know how to show her losing her hearing doesn't mean losing herself. Calvin mocked him incessantly as they completed the first part of their plan and cleared all the furniture from the living room, creating a wide open space.

"_Yeah, man, you and Casey sure aren't friends, right? You wouldn't be caring about her now, would you?" _Calvin asked as they finished the last of the furniture.

"_We're not! I just want her to get off my back and quit following me around all the time! The only way she'll do that is if she embraces being deaf. That's all!"_

"_And if that makes your sister smile in the meantime I guess that's just a consequence of you being a good little ally to the deaf community."_

_ "STEP-sister. And yes! Go, she's gonna be up soon and the family is almost ready to leave. Get out!_"

"_You're welcome!"_ Calvin signed as he left with a far-too amused grin on his face that Derek willed to disappear.

Derek had dipped into his partying fund to bribe his dad to take Nora and the kids out of the house to a movie. He wasn't one to leave the house much these days anyway, and he couldn't do what he had planned with them around. They were getting ready noisily upstairs as he hauled the large speakers he borrowed from Sam into the now empty living room. Edwin trudged down the stairs and his eyes widened in surprise at the sight.

"What's this, bro?" he asked, putting on his jacket in preparation for the harsh Canadian winter.

"None of your business, Edweirdo," he grumbled. There were too many questions! The rest of the family paraded down the stairs in a large line of hectic energy. Derek took a good long look at his step-sister Lizzie for the first time in a while. Her eyes were puffy, and tired. Yet another night of sobbing over her sister slipping away from her. He didn't sympathize with her, though he supposed he should have. She made no effort to learn to sign with Casey, and didn't care to think about the fact Casey was still here, and still herself. Casey hadn't died, and he was tired of his family acting like she had.

"What's all this for?" Nora took him out of his trance. She muttered her words out of the earshot of the others, which Derek liked. She wasn't one to make a big deal out of something like this. She, unlike Casey, never made a big deal out of his rare, small acts of kindness. He questioned if he should tell his step-mom the truth or not, but he ultimately decided for it. He knew she wouldn't tell anybody. Hell, maybe she'd reimburse him the money for them to get out of the house if she knew it was for something…- he couldn't even think the word- _nice_ for her daughter.

"I'm, uh, showing her that she can still dance, ya know? I thought she'd want some privacy away from the family, and besides, the music has to be loud anyway and I didn't want to get yelled at, so… it's really not a big deal. Just wanted to get her out of my hair for a little while…" he trailed off, eyes not meeting hers. He glanced up quickly to see her giving him a small smile.

"Thank you, Derek," she said. She knew he wasn't one to make a spectacle out of things like this, and didn't want to make him uncomfortable. He nodded.

"Alright, guys, let's hit the road!" Nora shouted enthusiastically to her family.

"Why isn't Smerek coming with us?" Marti asked.

"Well, he has to stay with Casey," George said.

"Will Casey ever hear us again?" the innocent girl asked. Everybody shifted uncomfortably. It was unspoken that nobody talk about what happened to the girl fast asleep upstairs. Lizzie walked out of the house distraught. George lifted up his youngest into his arms, nodded his goodbyes to Derek, and left with the question left unanswered.

Nora looked at her eldest step-son, reached her hand to her chin, and signed to him, "_Thank you."_ She walked out of the front door without looking back to him, but if she had she would have seen a small smile.

"At least somebody in this family is trying for her," he said to himself.

Derek ran his hand through his hair and shuffled up the stairs, still in his pajamas which became his permanent look as summer break progressed. He gently opened Casey's door. Inside was a small lump under blankets rising and falling slowly. He almost felt bad waking her up. _Almost._ He walked across her spotless floor to her bed and gently shook his sleeping… what was she to him anymore? Step-sister, yes. Enemy, maybe? She definitely was before, but was she now? Or was she… he could barely think the word. His friend. Derek was grateful when she stirred and freed him from such dangerous thoughts.

"Derek?" she asked, out loud.

_"Come on. I want to show you something."_ He grabbed her wrists and pulled her up out of bed, and she begrudgingly participated.

_"Where is everyone?" _she asked before she put her hair in a ponytail, gesturing to the unusually empty halls.

_"I told them to leave."_

_ "What? Why?"_ she asked. As she descended down the stairs, her jaw dropped as her eyes laid on a perfectly spacious dance area, and two large speakers with her iPod plugged into them.

"Is this some kind of sick joke!?" she yelled out loud. Her limited knowledge of ASL couldn't properly convey her anger and repulsion.

"How could you do this, Derek? I know you prank me, but to shove in my face the one thing I can never do again? That's low even for you! I opened up to you about this!" she began her tirade.

_"Casey, shut up,_" he instructed. He took her hand and placed it on the speaker, ignoring her questioning looks. He turned on her iPod, and turned up the volume so loudly it made his ears hurt, but the pains were nothing compared to the overwhelming emotions in Casey.

Her senses went into overdrive. The vibrations from the speakers found their way into her hand, then coursed through the rest of her body. One harsh vibration followed by a rhythmic series of lighter ones. She recognized the pattern and smiled softly. She whispered, "Transatlanticism." Derek smiled. He was glad she recognized the song, even if it wasn't the same.

"_Now you can dance,"_ he said. Casey's eyes welled up with tears. She missed dancing so much; it was her life. Her hips swayed to the vibrations. Derek cleared his throat in discomfort and turned to head up the stairs, ready to leave her to her dancing. As he walked away, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

_"Dance with me,"_ she said, though she looked mortified once her hands finished the last motion. Why had she said that?

_"Are you serious?"_ he asked. She hesitated, but nodded.

_"You can't put a slow song on and expect me not to enjoy it with a partner. Come on. You lead," _she commanded. She placed her hands around his neck as he put his around her waist. Their hands were all they had to talk, but luckily for them they didn't need to talk. Dancing was something they definitely could do.

He pulled her in and they swayed to the soft music. Casey closed her eyes, and with her eyes shut, she was completely cut off to the world aside from the feeling of the sound, and the chest her cheek laid against. She had craved this kind of tranquility for a week and a half, ever since she watched helplessly as a truck rammed into Emily's car. It was her first time she felt completely content and at peace. Derek pulled her in tighter, and was even surprised by his own actions. He froze for a brief second, worried about Casey's reaction to such affection. She just melted further into him. They swayed slowly in circles. She felt his heart beat with her cheek, and soon he joined her in her bubble by closing his eyes too.

Casey would dance alone later. She craved fulfillment, and she got it. She knew she'd freak out about this later, but just now she couldn't find time to care. She just didn't want it to end. Lucky for them both, this was a long song, and neither of them were going anywhere.

A/N: As promised! I appreciate every single favorite, follow, and review so far! Hope you enjoyed and please review, every single one means so much to me. I update every day!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry this is a little later in the day than usual! But it's not midnight here in Cali yet so don't be disappointed in me! I maintain my daily streak. This chapter is dedicated to TheOnceAnonymous14, my lovely dedicated read and reviewer. I'm particularly proud of it, so I hope she likes it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.

The week days were good to Casey because she had the routine down. Lucky for her, her younger siblings spent their summer days out of the house at parks, with friends, embracing their sunlit days and youth. Nora and George would work, and it was her chance for alone time. Without the worry of running into one of her family members without her personal interpreter by her side, she could go around the house about her will. Her favorite activity on the weekdays was dancing, though nowadays she did that all alone. She and Derek hadn't spoken about their slow-dance since they awkwardly broke apart, and he shuffled up the stairs. They couldn't continue the avoidance of one-another for long, however, because the safety of the week-days left their grasp and on came the weekend. This wasn't just any weekend of George and Nora encouraging family bonding- it was Sunday, the day of the deaf event.

She had nearly forgotten about the dreaded day, so when she glimpsed at her calendar on her way down to breakfast, the nerves in her stomach felt like pterodactyls in lieu of butterflies. She had just learned her numbers to twenty, and now she was headed into the pit of deaf people whose signing was the speed of lightning. She could feel their criticizing glares already, just waiting to pounce on her for not being good enough. No matter how hard she tried, Casey couldn't learn a language in two weeks, even with the color-coded sticky note tabs sticking out of the ASL dictionary on her night stand. Derek tried to tell her this in the beginning of course, but she didn't listen. She was Casey Macdonald. She could learn a language in weeks, right? Wrong.

Casey headed down the stairs casually taking two at a time in her fluffy purple pajama bottoms and white camisole. Her loose curls flounced down her back. She sniffed into the air to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes and her eyes lit up.

"Derek!" she shouted, out loud. He was still the only person she allowed to hear her voice. "Did you make pancakes!? Are there any left for me?" she said excitedly making it to the bottom of the stairs. It was only when she turned and faced the dining room table that she froze. Her entire family sat at the table, eating breakfast, staring at her. Casey brought her hand to her mouth and fast-walked to the kitchen, avoiding the eyes of her family. She took a deep breath in her nose and out her mouth. Of course, Case, it's Sunday. They're all here, eating breakfast, without you. You can't hear, and they can't talk to you. What good are you to the family?

She looked up to a light tap on her shoulder. This wasn't Derek's harsh poke that she usually felt, rather the hand of what could only be one person in the world. She turned to face her mom, who gave her a small, sad smile. Casey looked down to her toes. _They're ashamed of me_, she thought to herself.

Her mother surprised her when she took Casey's chin in her hands. Nora pressed her forehead to her daughter's.

"I'm with you," she whispered, though Casey could not hear her. The woman closed her eyes, and so did her daughter. Casey's tears fell down her cheeks. She had missed her mom so much. She had been avoiding her so much that she had forgotten what they had. Her mother was her best friend. How could she have thought her mom wouldn't love her still?

"Mom?" she whispered aloud. "Do I sound funny?"

Nora looked at her daughter, blushed, and brought her hands up from her sides.

"_You… s-o-u-n-d beautiful._" Nora's signing was rocky at best, and she roughly finger-spelled the word 'sound', but it was an attempt. An attempt Casey had only gotten from one person in the household until now. Casey grinned, and Nora smiled too, proud of herself. The girls embraced tightly, a notion long overdue. Casey's day turned up, and suddenly the deaf event didn't seem _as_ scary. With her mother by her side and, yes, even Derek- she could make it though.

"_You want to eat with the family?"_ Nora asked. Casey shook her head. Baby steps. She couldn't face Lizzie right now. Her sister was the only person avoiding her more than she was avoiding the world. Nora nodded understanding, and placed two chocolate chip pancakes on a plate for her daughter drizzled in syrup. Casey exited the room and up the stairs, avoiding the looks of disguised worry on Derek's face, and curiosity on George's. Halfway up the staircase, she took a look back at her mom.

"_I love you," _Nora motioned to her. Casey shifted her food to one hand, and signed back.

"_Me too."_ With that, Casey headed back to her safety. She opened the door to Derek's bedroom before realizing what she was doing, then headed back to her cave with a long lingering look at the door she nearly entered through. Had that become more home to her than her own room? She didn't know, and she didn't want to think about it. That dance had been too weird as it was, she didn't need to add his bed being a place of safety on top of it. Her phone lit up.

**Calvin just texted me, and he wants to go get coffee at his favorite place with a few friends. Would you rather do that instead? Less people, all our age, and they'll keep the teasing to a minimum if Calvin tells them to. Plus coffee. You wanna go?**

This was what scared her. She frowned looking at the text. See? Look at how nice his tone was. Not once did he refer to her as Spacey or tell her not to pull a Klutzilla in front of his friends. Perhaps it was just that he knew she was nervous to be around a lot of deaf people at once for the first time. Maybe he was actually respecting her fears, and didn't want to overwhelm her on a big day. With this notion though, if it was true, that would make them friends. Were they friends? She shuddered to think. Yes, he was her crutch. Yes, they teased each other a lot and things got easier over the course of the last year. But friends? That was a little extreme. Still the message relieved her.

**YES. **Casey then headed off to take a shower after finishing her pancaked "Derek-style"- wolfing them down like they were essential to her survival.

It wasn't hard to spot them all in the coffee shop. A group of deaf, rather good-looking, teenagers whose hands flew at the speed of lightning and adopted dramatic expressions appropriate for stage actors of soap-opera characters. She was gonna have to get used to this. She glanced to Derek on her left. She dug her nails into her cuticles with nervousness. Derek put his hand on the small of her back encouragingly, and they walked over.

Calvin waved at them when he saw them, a large smile on his face. She glanced to the black-haired Latina beauty with her hand on his thigh. She was gorgeous. She gave Calvin a nod of approval and he blushed. There were five of them, seven including Casey and Derek. Calvin, his girlfriend, another couple, and a third male who looked happy to be relieved of his fifth-wheeling status.

"_Everybody! You know Derek. This is his sister Casey. Casey, this is Michelle, those love birds over there are Tyler and Anna, and that's Keegan."_ Everybody said their greetings. There were so many hands in the air that she nearly didn't catch Derek sign, _"Step-sister."_ Derek took a seat next to Calvin, and Casey sat between him and Keegan. The boy to her right seemed to pick up on her nerves quickly.

"_Hearing?"_ he asked. It was an innocent enough question, but it made her stomach lurch. How could she answer that? Lucky for her, her second favorite step-brother came to her rescue.

"_Deaf. She lost her hearing a couple weeks ago in a car accident. Beginning signer. Go slow?"_ Derek asked. He went particularly fast at the last part, and Casey was proud she picked it up. As his hand ran up his arm quickly for _slow_ she realized he didn't want her to know he himself was requesting them to go slower. Calvin didn't tell them to? She shrugged, and looked to Keegan to see his reaction. It gave her a sense of relief to look around and see the looks. They weren't of pity like she had been surrounded with, but they were looks of happiness.

"_Welcome to the family, Casey!"_ Anna signed, grinning at her. Casey gave a small smile.

"_Thank you,"_ she answered humbly.

"_You'll like it. Not so many annoying people in your ear,"_ Keegan said, giving her a playful touch with his elbow. Derek turned to talk to Calvin about something, she didn't know what.

"_You used to be hearing?"_ Casey asked with curiosity.

"_Started losing it when I was fourteen, went completely deaf a year later. It was hard, but I don't regret it. I never would have met these guys."_ He said, fist-bumping Tyler.

"_Did your family learn ASL for you?"_ Casey was relieved to meet somebody in the same position as her.

"_Well, I'm an only child. I'm not lucky like you to have a brother that signs. My parents learned, though. They're pretty good. Mom's volunteering at the deaf event today. She was disappointed we didn't go."_

"_Calvin and his coffee loving," _she smiled at him.

"_Calvin hates coffee?" _Keegan said. Casey's eyebrows squinted down, confused. Before she could ask her step-brother why Calvin had wanted to come here in the first place, she was interrupted by the waitress coming by. She forgot about her question when faced with the difficult task of facing a hearing person. She and Derek went first, and as before, she asked Derek to order for her. The others were experienced, though. They pointed to their menus with skill, forcing her to think. She looked disgruntled and eyed Derek a couple times with annoyance. She could tell her understood her, why didn't he just order for them all? The group noticed as well.

"_God forbid she has to take the time to understand us," _Calvin signed with annoyance. Everybody at the table laughed loudly and Derek jumped a bit. She threw him an amused smile. She couldn't imagine how loud they all were.

"_Oh I have an idea! Guys, let's play the game with Casey. Come on, it'll be fun,"_ Michelle said. Casey raised her eyebrow in turn to Derek and involuntarily scooted closer to him, as if he would protect her from the unknown.

"_Casey doesn't do fun, guys,"_ he said, shooting her a mocking wink.

"_I do fun! Shut up, Derek. Show me. What… g-a-m-e?" _she signed. Keegan taught her the correct sign before Derek could show her.

The game was simple, but annoying. It was a brain-teaser, though, and she loved puzzles. It helped her with her signing, too, she learned a lot more words than she had known before. Perhaps Derek was right, being around this group was certainly increasing her knowledge faster than her color-coded dictionary at home. Each person in the circle, with the exception of Derek, who just sat back looking amused, took Casey on one at a time. They gave her a series of signs and she had to figure out what they meant literally.

Calvin took his hand and gave her the sign for _milk_, demonstrating it by sweeping it past his eyes. She gave it a couple minutes of thought, and the group seemed determined to believe she wouldn't guess it. Derek, on the other hand, looked at her expectantly. She was a faster learner than they were giving her credit for. Finally, she let out a small laugh, and rolled her eyes.

"_P-A-S-T-E-U-R-I-Z-E."_ They all gave her an approving nod, and Calvin looked offended that she beat his round-one question so easily. Then, he gave her a smile.

"_I have picked a name sign for you, Casey."_ Her eyes lit up. Everything she had read about deaf culture said they weren't as quick to give name signs. Perhaps it was because she was deaf, or maybe it was because she had beat their initiation ritual game. Either way, she leaned forward expectantly. He demonstrated the sign for _clever_ with the letter C.

Clever Casey. She liked it. Derek rolled his eyes.

"_I was thinking annoying with a C. Maybe kiss ass. Teacher's pet."_ Derek smirked at her, and she met him with challenging eyes.

"_Derek the dumbass?"_ she asked. Her new friends' jaws dropped and Calvin could not contain his laughter. Michelle held him up to keep him from keeling over. Derek, amused but not to be shown up, grabbed a sugar packet from the table. Casey turned her eyes from him, thinking he was merely sugaring his coffee. She was stupid to have thought so. She didn't feel like "Clever Casey" when he opened the sugar packet and poured it directly over the top of her head.

Her eyes lit up with a fiery rage and, before he knew it, she was on her feet. He was too quick for her, though. With reflexes of a talented hockey player, Derek ran out of his seat toward the door. Casey caught up quickly- had she been doing cardio?- and leapt onto his back. He ended up giving her a piggy-back ride down the street as she shook the sugar from her hair onto his leather jacket. The group of friends inside watched the sight from the large window.

"_They're brother and sister you said?"_ Tyler asked Calvin questioningly.

"_Step."_ Calvin answered, eyeing the pair from the table. Keegan pulled out his phone, and scrolled through Facebook mindlessly, confused with a slight air of sadness surrounding him.

"Step,"he muttered to himself aloud. Nobody noticed.

A/N: Reviews make me happy. Thanks for sticking with me!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: If I write things with dashes between the letters, it's finger spelling. I use that mostly for the more complicated words I don't think she'd have learned yet, but I use it sparingly because it's a bit annoying to read.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek!

"_Calvin! What are you doing here? Derek isn't up yet."_

Casey had just been jogging up to the house when Calvin drove up.

"_No, I know! I was actually looking for you."_

"_Come in,"_ she signed. If it had been any other deaf person, she'd worry about her limited knowledge of the language, but it was Calvin and she knew he would patient with her. The pair walked to the kitchen together, and Casey grabbed a water from the fridge.

"_Want a water?"_ she offered her friend.

"_No, thanks."_

"_So what's up?"_ she asked. Calvin and she got along, yes, but it was a bit soon for personal visits in the friendship. She wasn't complaining, though. Emily and her texted a lot, but neither said anything about hanging out in person. They didn't know how things would change when they had to struggle to understand each other.

"_It's about Michelle,"_ he said. _"Things are headed downhill. She just… doesn't look at me like she used to, you know?"_ Casey couldn't say she was surprised. Michelle was amazingly good looking and, though Calvin's sense of humor, athletic build, and bright blue eyes made him a prime candidate for a looker like her, she could sense Michelle's distance from the start.

"_And how do you feel?"_

"_I… I don't want her to leave, Casey. Which is where you come in!"_ Casey raised an eyebrow.

"_I'm sorry? I don't know her well enough to… w-i-n-g-m-a-n for you."_

"_It's not that! I thought maybe if we went on a double date with a newer couple, we could get our spark back. Show how much we love each other, relive the old days with cute stories. We've been together for two years, Casey. Please do this for me?"_ he signed slowly for her, pleas in his eyes. It wasn't her favorite idea, but what could she say? After everything he had done for her, helping her learn so quickly, introducing her to Tyler, Anna, and Keegan? How could she deny all of that?

"_I don't know, Calvin… It might get awkward for Derek and me."_

"_Derek? I was talking about Keegan… unless, you want it to be Derek?"_ Casey looked mortified. Had she really just said that?

"_No! No, I don't know why I just said that," _Casey recovered, and was relieved to see Derek walking into the kitchen with a mop of messy hair nearly covering his eyes. She let out a breath she had been holding in without realizing it.

"_I'd ask what you're doing here, but coffee first,"_ Derek signed. It amazed Casey how even through his hands, Derek could still convey his groggy morning tone.

"_You want some?"_ Casey asked Calvin, getting two mugs from the cupboard.

"_No thanks, I hate coffee,"_ he answered. Derek's eyes fluttered from Calvin's to Casey's, then back to the coffee. Busted. Casey turned her back to Calvin and spoke, so only Derek could hear her.

"I thought it was Calvin's idea to go get coffee the other day instead of the deaf event?" she muttered. Derek gave a quick shrug and continued the process. He pushed the button of the coffee machine, and turned to his friend.

"_What brings you here today?"_ he asked, stealing the bowl of cereal Casey had been pouring for herself. She glared at him.

"_I think Keegan likes your sister… I was just here inviting her to double date with Michelle and me."_ Calvin said simply. Derek dropped his spoon. His step-sister took this opportunity to steal back her cereal, and began to munch away, shrugging off his reaction.

"_Isn't he dating that hard of hearing blonde chick Maggie?"_

"_No, she broke up with him about two months ago."_ Derek smirked at this and did a sign Casey didn't understand. She looked at Calvin with questioning eyes.

"_R-e-b-o-u-n-d," _he clarified. Casey rolled her eyes, and Derek snatched the spoon from her hand, moved the bowl of Cocoa Puffs in between them, and began devouring the chocolate cereal. Casey sighed, and took another spoon from the cereal bowl, and silently agreed to the compromise. They shared the cereal in silence, and neither noticed a pair of eyes observing and taking mental notes of their actions.

"_So what do you say, Casey? Movies at my place tonight?"_ Calvin asked with begging eyes. He didn't care one way or another if she and Keegan hit it off, though he hoped they did for their own sakes. He needed to save his relationship, and he needed Casey to do it. The girl looked into his eyes deeply, sighed, and nodded.

"_Sure."_

Derek took the cereal from her and went upstairs, closing his door without a sound.

**It's not that there's anything wrong with him, Em. He seems like a nice enough guy.** That night, Casey texted her friend Emily to try to figure out what the best balance of comfortable yet stylish was for a movie marathon double date.

**Then what's the problem? Why aren't you more excited?!**

**I don't know, he's just… there's no fire there. He was sweet, but in a friend way. I hoped we could be friends because he felt what I feel a couple years ago when he lost his hearing. But I barely know him! What if I go all Klutzilla!? What if Derek is right, what if he's just rebounding with me?**

**Casey, you're thinking too much! You said he's cute, right? Bright green eyes, black hair, tall, all good qualities! Just enjoy the night; don't overthink it.**

**You're right, Em. I'll talk to you later, Derek and I are gonna go over colors before I go. I will text you after, ok?**

**Alright, Case. Don't panic!**

**I'll try not to.**

Casey threw her phone on her bedspread and walked to her closet in a fluffy white towel. What to wear? Blue, purple, and pink felt too normal. She decided on a bright green tank top with darker skinny jeans and black flats. It was more sophisticated somehow. Maybe a deaf boyfriend was what she needed? Private tutoring sessions with making out thrown in there didn't sound too bad. Despite all of Keegan's great qualities, however, she couldn't imagine making out with him. She visualized it to be boring or passionless. Compared to what, though? She had nothing else to compare it to in her head. She shook her head of the thoughts, dressed, and entered Derek's room without knocking, pulling a brush through her long brown hair as she collapsed onto his bed.

"_You're late," _he said. Casey turned over onto her stomach and got comfortable on his pillows. She stuck her tongue out at him. He scoffed, yet failed to conceal his smile, and rolled his eyes. He laid down facing the ceiling, and couldn't help but notice the scent of her perfume. Maybe he would sleep on that side tonight.

His head collided with his pillow and he thought of sleep, but he had a lesson to teach, though his student looked unwilling. They turned on their sides to face each other.

"_What's up? Usually you'd have whipped out your notebook by now," _he teased her.

"_I don't know. Not feeling well I guess."_

"_Are you sure you want to go to this stupid movie date?"_

"_You're just mad you don't have a girl to make it a triple date."_

"_I could! Why would I go to watch pretty boy try and fail to turn you on?"_

"_Derek! Shut up!"_

"_Shall we begin with the colors then, Case, or are you gonna just sit there?"_ She grumbled as they sat up, then flushed when she realized he could hear her. Sometimes she forgot he could. He grinned at her lioness-like sounds.

"_First color. Red. As in, the color you will turn when you go all K-l-u-t-z-i-l-l-a on your new boyfriend."_

"_Derek!"_

"_Just repeat the sign, Casey."_

"_Red."_

"_Good girl."_

"_Just move on."_

"_Orange. As in, the color roses he'll get you because he's too dense to get red."_

"_I'm gonna kill you,"_ she signed angrily. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she sighed.

"_Orange. I hate you."_

"_Next color, Case, keep up. Yellow. As in, the summer's day he'll compare you to because he's not original enough to make up his own love poems."_

"_Sign slower, Derek, I can't follow you. What the hell is that last word?"_

"_P-o-e-m-s."_

"_Yellow. Continue, jerk."_

"_Next we have green. As in, the color you'll turn when you get sick from the nerves of being within one foot of a male."_

"_I'm near you, aren't I? Then again, you're not really a man."_

"_Casey, repeat the sign. Don't be difficult."_

"_Green."_

"_Excellent, Case. Blue. As in, the color a certain part of him will turn when you don't go past first base-,"_

"DEREK!" she shrieked aloud. He busted into laugher.

"_I hear the doorbell, Princess. You better go get that."_ Casey shot up out of his bed, and headed toward the door. She felt him poke her shoulder, and sighed, turning toward him.

"_Oh, and Case, purple. As in, don't let yourself get purple bruises when you fall trying to run out of there as fast as you can when this goes horribly."_

Casey fumed all the way to Calvin's house. She wasn't determined before, but she sure was now to show him that this could very well turn into a decent evening. Sure, Keegan wasn't the person she always imagined, but that didn't mean they wouldn't click well! She was so angry and swamped up in her thoughts about Derek that she forgot to say hello to her date as her and Michelle entered the house. Some date she was turning out to be.

"_You look great!"_ Keegan complimented her. She gave a small smile. Oh God, compliments. She wasn't used to those. Derek mostly just mocked her appearance, how was she supposed to respond?

"_Thanks, I like your shoes," _she signed. It wasn't until she looked down and realized he had taken them off that she flushed tomato red. At least Derek was right about one thing. She turned red, but the only Klutzilla move she pulled was tripping on her own tongue. She just had to shake him off her, and focus on having a good time.

Casey noticed that Calvin was very right in his worries about his girlfriend losing interest in him. He tried to put his arms around her waist a couple times, and she brushed off every advance. Luckily for Casey, Calvin was a gracious host no matter what he was dealing with, and he soon whipped out the movies. Perhaps he thought cuddling to a scary movie would drive Michelle once back into his arms because he gave Casey a pointed look when he pulled out the Exorcist. Casey immediately vouched for the movie to be the prime choice, though she hadn't seen it.

"_You've seen it before?"_ Keegan asked her, trying to make polite small talk.

"_The book is great,"_ she answered, avoiding the question.

"_Didn't I see a copy of the Shining in your bag the other day? You like horror?"_ Michelle asked her. Casey nodded.

"_I didn't use to. One time, Derek and our friend Sam bet Emily and I that we couldn't read those books all the way through. I wanted to prove him wrong, and it just stuck."_

"_You mean prove them wrong?" _Keegan asked.

"_What did I say?"_ Casey asked, confused.

"_You said prove 'him' wrong."_ Keegan said, eyebrows furrowing. Casey shrugged, and got up to put the DVD in. Michelle and Calvin gathered on the couch, and Calvin opened his arms to her. She didn't move into them. It didn't seem like she was avoiding him out of malice, rather she didn't even seem to think about him much at all. It was as if she was somewhere else. Casey looked to him and gave him a reassuring smile as he settled with tracing circles on Michelle's knee with his thumb. He shrugged at her, and it broke her heart. Casey had only seen Calvin be the bright and smiley person she had once seen, not the sad nearly defeated boy that sat on the couch in front of her.

Casey and Keegan sat on the floor in front of the couch on some pillows, and the couple sat behind them. Casey could practically feel their looks, curious as to every movement Keegan or Casey made toward one another. At a particularly scary moment, Casey leapt into the air involuntarily. The boy to her right somehow took this as an invitation to put his arm around her. She didn't know how to react. Then she remembered what Emily told her.

**Just enjoy the night; don't overthink it.**

Casey leaned into Keegan's chest, hoping for this whole thing to come more naturally to her. Suddenly, her memory flashed back to dancing to her favorite Death Cab song with Derek, shifting in circles, her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. The moment in their history never brought up, the time that was practically erased from memory just as it had been from conversation. Keegan's lean-muscled chest was not particularly bad a place to rest her head, but she didn't feel the same warmth she had on the hockey player's broad torso cradled in his protective arms as they danced.

"_I have to go to the bathroom," _she said quickly, and ran to the bathroom feeling rather off at the memory. Casey tripped as she entered the doorway into the bathroom. The image of Derek teasing her taunted her inside her head,

"_Don't let yourself get purple bruises when you fall trying to run out of there as fast as you can when this goes horribly!" _She shook his words from her head and leaned over the sink, splashing cold water on her face. She looked into the mirror and saw her face had grown quite pale since her arrival. If she was being completely honest with herself, it had turned pale when she shifted onto the stranger's chest, but when it came to memories of Derek, she was never honest with herself. She felt sick, and looked the part too. The picture of him taunting her with his signs yet again pressed themselves to the forefront of her mind.

"_Next we have green. As in, the color you'll turn when you get sick from the nerves of being within one foot of a male."_

"Shut up," she whispered aloud, though that did nothing. Casey pulled out her phone from her back pocket and texted Emily, the only person she could think to save her right now.

**Em, bad date, can you pick me up?**

**What happened!?**

**I'll tell you later, just please come get me. 1342 Cook Road.**

**I'm on my way.** Casey slid it back into her pocket. She was grateful that if Emily could be counted on for anything, it was always having her phone on hand. She stumbled out of the bathroom, feeling woozy, and shuffled into the living room.

"_Guys, I'm not feeling well at all. I think I'm gonna head home. My friend is picking me up,"_ she said. Keegan stood, looking disappointed, but he nodded his understanding.

"_It's okay, I'm sorry you feel sick!" _he said, trying to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Casey moved quickly before he could. Calvin, on the other hand, looked slightly relieved. He had grown tired of trying to hold onto somebody that just wasn't his anymore. He just wanted to go to sleep. Michelle stood.

"_Come on, I am dying for a smoke anyway, we'll get some fresh air before she gets here,"_ she said. Casey nodded, grabbed her purse, and followed Michelle out of the living room with one last apologetic nod to the boys.

The girls had never been alone before, and something about the way Michelle had been treating Calvin set Casey on edge.

"_Can I ask you a question?" _Casey said, surprising even herself that she was opening up this topic.

"_Go for it,"_ Michelle said, lighting her cigarette.

"_Why are you pushing Calvin away? He can see it."_

"_Yeah, I know he can,"_ she signed, blowing smoke from her mouth.

"_So, why?"_

"_It's complicated, Casey."_

"_I'm curious."_

"_That's my problem, too,"_ she said with a morbid irony in her expression, almost bitter.

"_What?"_

"_I met somebody… somebody else. But I can't exactly figure out… I don't know."_

"_What's his name?" _Casey asked. She was a little uncomfortable. She hadn't expected Michelle to be honest with her.

"_Elena is her name…"_

"_Oh."_

"_Yeah. Oh." _Michelle smiled with a tint of anger in her eyes. She clearly never meant for this to happen. Casey shifted awkwardly, and a couple minutes passed by in silence.

"_You can't help who you fall in love with, Casey. You better than anybody should take that advice."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_It means sometimes, no matter what situation you're put in, love has a way of sneaking up on you. Mad, mad love. Sometimes it's in the form of the person you least expect."_

"_Why are you telling me this?"_

"_You'll figure it out. I think that's your ride."_ Casey looked up and she was right, Emily waited looking worried at Casey.

"_Yeah, it is… and Michelle?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Break up with Calvin."_

"_I will."_

The car-ride was slightly awkward. Their first exchange since they had last been in a vehicle together, and they didn't know how to talk to each other. Emily just looked at her and gave her a small smile. Casey returned the gesture, and the rest of the car-ride was quiet. When they got to her house, Emily mouthed, "Text me?" and Casey nodded. With that, the friends parted ways.

Casey entered the house to a smirking Derek sitting in front of the TV.

"_Back so soon?"_ he asked, triumphant. Casey looked at the speaker in the corner of the living room and images surged through her brain. The two of them, dancing slowly together, the vibrations of the music guiding them through the love ballad. Her head on his chest, his face in her hair, the smell of his cologne in her nostrils.

"_You ruin everything!" _she signed, before running up the stairs and slamming her door.

A/N: Wow that went longer than expected, and it is very late at night here in Cali, so I'm gonna reward myself with some sleep. Help me wake up to plenty of reviews in the morning? :D Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated, my really good friend passed away this week and I've had difficulty motivating myself to write. I won't bore you with details, so I'm giving you an extra-long chapter to make up for my absence! I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.

"_You know Casey, if you didn't like the guy, you could have said so instead of making yourself sick,"_ Calvin was still taunting her two weeks later. It was the middle of July bringing the heat to the city, and the pair sat in an ice-cream shop, signing slowly to each other.

"_Has he said anything about me?"_ she said. She felt horrible. Damn Derek and his stupid color teasing. Keegan had been such a nice guy. Why couldn't she just lay her head on his shoulder and get over her thoughts?

"_No, not at all. I think he thinks he did something wrong."_

"_He didn't, it's not that!"_

"_Then what was it?"_

"_Derek said things before I left-"_

"_It seems like Derek says a lot of things that make you avoid dating people,"_ he said.

"_Well there was Sam… and Truman… and now Keegan."_ Casey aggressively shoved her spoon into her ice cream. He was always ruining everything.

"_Why does he do that?"_ Calvin asked such a seemingly innocent question.

"_He's tried to destroy my life since the day we met!"_

"_Yes, but why? If he wanted to be an annoying brother, he could just prank you. Why mess with who you date? You said yourself he didn't want to ruin your dream that one time, right? Why is your dating life not off limits, either?"_ Calvin's series of questions made Casey give him a curious look. Why was he asking all of this? Why did he care? Obviously Keegan liked her a little bit to ask her on a date, but it's not like her not going on more dates with him broke his heart. So why did Calvin care so much that she and Keegan didn't work out because of Derek? He must have just been concerned about Keegan's well-being. That's all.

"_Derek and I have always had a hatred deeper than pranks."_

"_Then why did you ask him to teach you? Why did he set up your dance space? Why did he say we should go to coffee instead of the deaf event so you didn't feel o-v-e-r-w-h-e-l-m-e-d?"_

"_Why do you care so much, that's what I want to know," _Casey snapped at him. He leaned back in his chair, taking a bit of his ice-cream. He went too far, and felt bad. Just because everybody else could see it didn't mean she could. He nearly began his apology when he saw her.

Michelle looked radiant, even more so than she usually did. Her bright smile gleamed as she looked to her left to a blonde girl with long curly hair, a pink dress on, and freckles that sprinkled her cheeks. Casey turned to the friend across from her and saw sheer pain flicker in his eyes. Always the life of the party, it was so rare to see such raw emotion on his usually upbeat face.

"_The girl. She's pretty,"_ Calvin signed.

"_I have an idea."_

"_Derek warned me that every idea you have is bad."_

"_Shut up! Why don't you, Tyler, Anna, Derek, Keegan, my friend Emily, and I all go to the beach? We don't get this weather all the time, and what's summer for if not swimming?"_

"_Don't pity me, Casey."_

"_I'm not pitying you! I've wanted to do it for a while. Besides, Emily wants to learn ASL, and what better way than to hang out with all of us? Derek taught me that."_ A glint of a smile found its way back onto his face. His eyes flickered back to his ex-girlfriend quickly, but only for a second. She had still not seen him.

"_This Emily. Deaf? HOH?"_

"_Hearing, down boy."_ Casey teased Calvin. Though Emily would do well to get over her weird love of Derek, she didn't want her best friend to be a rebound.

"_She's gonna need a good teacher."_

"_Good luck, she's obsessed with Derek."_

"_And you two are friends?"_

"_Yeah, why wouldn't we be?"_

"_No reason." _Casey sent him an inquisitive look, but couldn't say anything when she saw Michelle look at them from across the ice-cream shop. Michelle waved tentatively, unsure of if she should approach or not. Casey shook her head quickly, and Michelle nodded back. Luckily, Calvin was texting at the time, and didn't notice the exchange. His ex-girlfriend was understanding that he wasn't ready to see her yet, took her ice-cream, and signed to Casey briefly, _"See you later." _She and Elena walked out of the parlor to which Casey was grateful; she would not have to console a broken Calvin later that night.

**I don't know ANYTHING but the alphabet, Casey, what am I supposed to do at a beach with a group of deaf people!?** Emily blew up Casey's phone all morning as they got ready to head to the beach. Casey knew she'd still go, but of course her best friend had to freak out first.

**Em, I promise you'll be fine! Trust me. Derek and I will pick you up in ten minutes, get ready, and I'll see you soon!**

Casey struggled to tie the string of her bikini around her neck. Her swim-suit was rather skimpy, a deep purple number that flattered her dancer figure.

"UGH!" she shouted aloud, as her knots were constantly either too loose or too tight. Derek walked in, worried by her noise of exasperation.

"_What's wrong-" _he began to ask, before seeing her top was not completely fastened, and shielding his eyes.

"Can you help me?" she asked so he could hear, annoyed. Derek slowly took his hands from his eyes, with an eyebrow raised. When she turned his back to him to reveal the two strings, he realized she wasn't kidding. Derek approached his step-sister's back, taking the strings in hand. The side of his right hand softly brushed her shoulder, and the feel of her skin made his muscles tighten. He manipulated the strings into a tight bow, but his body wouldn't let him leave. Without thinking, Derek took his left hand and felt down Casey's lower neck to creating a trail to her shoulder upon impulse. Casey froze completely unable to move at his touch. This was not something step-siblings did. This was not something mortal enemies did. Hell, this wasn't something friends did, and even that was a loose term to describe their relationship.

Derek realized what he was doing, and took his hand off Casey's shoulder. She whipped around to face him, but he was already halfway to the door. He turned quickly, averting her eyes.

"_See you in ten."_ He then returned to his room, and shut the door quietly. Casey, much like the boy that just left, ran a hand through her hair, and leaned down to put her towel in her beach bag, threw on a flowey shirt, small shorts, and sunglasses. She was grateful the water would be cold; she needed it. Casey took her bag, and headed down the stairs to see her mom preparing Derek and her sandwiches.

"_Hi, Casey!"_ Nora signed to her. She looked very proud of her progress, though it wasn't as fast as Casey's was.

"_Hey, mom. You don't have to do that!"_

"_I want to, Case! Where's Derek?"_

"_In his room. We're leaving in a few minutes,"_ Casey's back straightened up as she spoke of him so casually as if what had just happened never occurred, as if his hand running down her arms hadn't sent shivers down her spine, and as if anything could ever be the same again. It would be! She would make it the same! The two chatted away until Derek stomped down the stairs in swim trunks and a t-shirt. He ruffled Casey's hair as he approached. Whenever Nora was around, Derek and Casey both spoke and signed for her understanding. It was an unspoken rule to make it easier for Nora to learn.

"Case, I have an idea."

"Other than messing up my hair? What is it?"

"For the sake of all of our friends today, let's try to be civil. If anything, for Calvin."

"I have always been civil! You're the one that instigates-"

"Case. Friends."

"Okay, fine."

"_I've waited for this day for years," _Nora signed, faking wiping away a tear. Casey stuck her tongue out at her mom. The teenagers put their sandwiches in Casey's bag, and they headed toward the door.

The good thing about his step-sister being deaf is that their awkward car rides did not have an additional "serious talk" about what happened in her room. They couldn't sign without it being dangerous to his driving, so they sat without communicating. Perhaps they could have an actually decent afternoon without her making what happened upstairs a thing. It really wasn't! Testosterone dictating his choices, what else is new? He claimed temporary insanity to himself, and that was it. Just like the dance, just like influencing her date, like every odd thought that compelled him to be a decent human being to her since her accident. Pity and testosterone.

Each time he caught a glance at from the corner of his eyes, the soft flip of her hair would tease him against her skin, begging him to move it and feel yet again. He shifted uncomfortably, and forced himself to look straight but he couldn't help but notice Casey's nails digging into her ankles as if she was in extreme pain, or perhaps even working against a strong impulse. Emily's ranting in the backseat went unheard even by the hearing boy in the driver's seat; he was too preoccupied by the memory of the touch that caught them both my surprise in Casey's bedroom.

It was an hour-long drive to Lake Ontario, and Derek, Casey, Calvin, and Emily decided to meet Tyler, Anna, and Keegan at the beach. Luckily for Derek, half the car was deaf, and Emily was too busy gazing into Calvin's eyes to care what his music choices were, so the drive passed quickly. Derek and Casey let their guards down, and soon the moment laid not forgotten, but suppressed for the time being just like the rest. It would only be a matter of time before they boiled up to the surface, but the step-siblings of course would wait until that inevitable moment to admit that fact.

The group of kids piled out of the Prince at the beach, and Casey reveled in the smell of the water, sound of the waves, and she couldn't wait to get the sand between her toes. Derek grabbed her bag for her, and she looked to him with gratitude in her eyes as she ran toward the beach. She fell to her knees and soaked in the warm sand and sun.

"_As good as you remember from last year?"_ Derek asked, giving her a genuine smile, and laying out their towels next to her.

"_Better. I wish we lived somewhere warmer."_

"_You mean you wish you lived somewhere warmer, far, far away from me," _he said, teasingly.

"_I don't know. I kind of like having you around," _she answered.

"_Feeling okay, Case?"_ he asked, putting his palm to her forehead- the first touch since her room. She batted his hand away playfully.

"_I am perfectly fine, thank you! You were the one that wanted to be friends on this trip," _she signed, sitting on her towel. She stripped off her tank-top, leaving just her bikini top and shorts. Derek suddenly became very fascinated with the loose thread on his towel. At that moment, Emily and Calvin walked up with chairs in their arms. Casey expected her best friend to complain about being left to do the heavy lifting, but was smiling far too big to care. Casey raised an eyebrow at Calvin, and he shrugged innocently. Derek and her met eyes, his smile amused by the sight in front of him. They spoke to each other through glances as they were becoming infamous for, finding understanding in their worry for their friends, yet happiness for them. If their friends decided to try this, they would be in for the long haul, and would have a hell of a time making it work.

Their eyes lingered for too long, and Casey experienced a multitude of emotions as she saw Keegan, Anna, and Tyler approach. Relief to break the eye contact and awkward double-date type setup, fear to interact with Keegan after unintentionally humiliating him, and a sadness that came with escaping her step-brother's gaze that she did not want to feel.

Derek turned his head to see where Casey's eyes went, and experienced irrational frustration. Keegan wasn't a bad guy, and they had always gotten along fairly before… before what?

_Before he caught the eye of your step-sister._ A voice inside his head rang in his ears, the same voice that taunted him every day since the accident. The voice that compelled him to do anything it could to make her smile like haul furniture just for her to be able to dance again, the same voice that told him to make those jokes before her date because the concept of her being with anybody wasn't okay with him, and the same voice that cause his hand to linger on her shoulder when he should have never entered her room in the first place. He fought against it, of course, Derek was never one to back down from a fight. He knew he was losing, and it was driving him crazy. _Well, it wasn't a far drive._

"_Hey, Tyler!"_ he broke his thought process before the voice got too loud. The familiar friend clapped his hand in his, both pleased to see each other after it had been too long.

"_Hey, D! What's up, Case? It's been a while."_

"_Too long,"_ Casey signed, and reached over to hug Tyler, then Anna, who smiled shyly. Derek didn't know how she did it, she was such a hug-y person. He liked to keep people at a distance. Casey and Keegan greeted one another with an awkward and every brief hug. Keegan raised his eyebrows at Derek with a cold nature Derek wasn't expecting.

"_Derek."_

"_Hey,"_ he answered, confused, but willing to fight if that was what was going to happen. Why did Keegan look at him with such a loathing stare? Either way, he wanted to get out of there, and by the looks of Casey, she did too. He gestured to the water, and took her hand, and the pair ran toward the lake.

It was the kind of flirting you never intend. The kind where subconsciously, you meld into the person without even meaning to. Casey barely had time to strip off her shirt and shorts when they went tearing into the cold water, and Derek's splashes hit her hair, leaving it soaking wet. She let out a giggle Derek had never heard before, but the voice told him not to mind. He ran at her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

"De-rek!" he heard her shout aloud, the first time she spoke in public. He grinned in triumph and flopped her into the water. He didn't notice as she grabbed his arm on her way down, and dragged him down with her. Her hair flowed like a mermaid's under the water, and the bitter taste of the salt water entered his mouth as he grinned at her underneath the surface, but he didn't mind. It was a whole new Derek and Casey. All of the signing lessons, dancing, and arguments melded together to form a friendship. And a touchy one at that. The two rose to the surface, coughing and grinning.

"_Let's go back before you burn,"_ he signed to her, and she nodded. Their elbows brushed one another as they approached the beach once again, but neither made it a point to move. Of course, neither would admit that they liked it either. They pretended not to notice their friends' stares as they approached, warming up with their towels.

"_Is the water warm?"_ Anna asked, breaking the silence… figuratively speaking.

"_Not at all. It's Canada, what do you expect?"_ Derek said, grinning. Casey put her newly-painted toenails in the sand and ran a comb through her hair. The couple and Keegan decided to go test out the waters. Calvin looked up to see Keegan signing to Tyler, "_I didn't realize I was imposing on a triple date."_ He decided not to tell Derek and Casey. Whatever truce they made, whether or not it was fueled by sexual tension, was a truce nonetheless and he did not want to mess with it. Emily, on the other hand, eyed her best friend with confusion and curiosity. Emily pointed toward the bathrooms, and gestured Casey to go with her. Casey nodded, following her friend to the building, leaving Calvin and Derek to get out the food on the beach.

"_What's up Keegan's ass?"_ Derek asked, opening the picnic basket.

"_It's nothing,"_ Calvin said.

"_You know, I know you do. Tell me."_

"_He thinks you're the reason things didn't go well on the date with Casey,"_ he said, studying Derek's reaction.

"_Casey said something about how I 'ruin everything' but I don't know what I did."_

"_Really? You honestly don't?"_ Calvin asked, almost amused at his friend's cluelessness.

"_What are you on about? I wasn't even there that night!"_

"_Alright, bro. Hand me those grapes."_

Calvin wasn't going to impose and force Derek to realize the truth they all saw before he was ready. Emily, on the other hand, was not about the same hands-off approach. Just up the beach, Emily pulled out a notebook, and began writing furiously on it.

**Why didn't you tell me you had feelings for Derek?!** she wrote. Casey rose both her eyebrows surprised.

**What are you talking about?** Casey wrote. The other girls in the bathroom looked on in wonder at the two girls communicating over paper and pen.

**See this is a sign! You didn't say gross! Do you have feelings for Derek?**

**No! Where did this come from?**

**Oh come off it, you know what I'm talking about; we all saw it. You two were totally flirting. What are you gonna tell your mom and George!?**

**Emily, SLOW DOWN. Nothing is going on!** Casey knew on paper her words were true, but in her stomach she felt a lurching that only ever occurred in one instance: if she lied to her best friend. She quickly added **Come on, let's go back, crazy.** She turned away from her friend, and ran out of the bathroom. Emily looked dejected. She knew Casey was lying and felt upset at first, but then realized. What if even Casey didn't realize she was lying? Emily smiled a small smile, put her notebook back in her bag, and headed out of the bathroom back towards Calvin: whom, aside from the difficulty communicating, was her ideal man.

Casey sat by Derek, refusing to overthink their new friendship just because Emily was under deluded notions of her loving Derek. Or…having feelings for him. That was it.

The group stayed at the beach a lot longer than they anticipated. By the end of the day, the night had fallen, they sat around a fire, and Emily's head was in Calvin's chest. They were in for a rough journey, but they got on well, and she always told Casey never to question a good thing. Keegan had lightened up, Casey thought she saw Calvin talking to him, and the group sat around, signing to each other. Casey even got to make up signs for the game they played with Casey at the coffee shop the month before. This time, they played it with Emily. They each took their turn teaching her, as well. Derek made sure to teach her profanity first, and Casey rolled her eyes, smiling, and she smacked his arm lightly. Everybody rose their hands in the air and cheered in ASL as Keegan whipped out s'mores supplies he brought along for the occasion just in case they stayed through the night.

Casey shivered in her skimpy clothes, and Derek unzipped his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Everybody noticed, but nobody said a thing. Casey nodded gratefully, pulling her knees in and huddling inside the jacket. She couldn't help but notice how good it smelled. Somehow Derek managed to stay his annoying self throughout the day by splashing her and sprinkling sand in her hair, but the sweet gestures like this formed their relationship into something new entirely. Something she could get used to. Derek turned to face her as Keegan distracted everybody else with his chocolate and marshmallows.

"_There's something about the beach that makes teenagers get romantic, isn't there? Look at those two over there,"_ he said, gesturing to their friends.

"_Don't forget Tyler and Anna. They've been making out all night,"_ Casey said, pretending to vomit on the sand. Derek smiled at her. He gave her a look he had never given her before. A look she didn't recognize, not with Sally, Emily, or anybody else. A look of wonder and curiosity.

"_Something about the beach,"_ he signed, shaking his head to himself as if there was something ironic or funny happening.

When the pair finally got home after s'mores, a long drive, and dropping everyone off at their respected homes, the two got out of the car. Casey shedded Derek's jacket that she fell asleep in in the car, put her flip-flops in her hand, and the two entered the house. Back to reality. No more beach. No more sand. No more distractions from the real world: the world that they were step-siblings. They were supposed to hate each other. Suddenly the reality of flirting all day, whether or not they'd acknowledge it was flirting, hit them in the face as the familiar smell of home hit them and they left the warm air of the outside. Back to the battlefield. They both walked up the stairs and entered their rooms silently. Casey dressed in pajamas, and laid in bed, thinking over the whole day with clear eyes. What were they doing? Before she could lean over to turn off the light, she saw her door open tentatively as her step-brother entered.

"_Can I come in?"_

A/N: Phew! Sorry I don't usually end on cliff-hangers, but I could add in the coming events to this chapter without sacrificing some of the content I want to add in. Again I'm so sorry about the break, and I would REALLY appreciate reviews on this chapter. I worked very, very hard on it.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Yet again I forgot this in the last chapter. I do not own Life With Derek.

A/N: Thank you all for your condolences, I really appreciate it. The show goes on, though, and to be honest writing this makes me feel a lot better, so it's back to daily updates for me. The long awaited chapter, but it's far from over!

"_Derek?"_ she asked, sitting up in bed. His name sign. He recalled just a month ago when she was feeling it out for the first time, mocking him about how fitting it was. Just a month ago when a muted dim voice in the back of his mind told him to spare Casey from having to go to a big, crowded, intimidating deaf event and recommend going to coffee instead. One of the first nice things he did for her. What a month could change. What an accident could change. Those were all gradual, however, until that morning. When his hand brushed her shoulder, when they went to that beach, when everything became complicated and exhilarating.

"_I..."_ he tried to say everything he wanted to say. Something that would make that easier though would be knowing what the hell he wanted to say, which he was still so far from.

"_What is it?"_ she asked. Yet another face she had never seen before- she stared into a look of… confusion and… was it fear?

"_Things are changing,"_ he signed. Wow, excellent Derek. Things are changing. Could he possibly have sounded more like a caveman or an ominous fortune teller? Casey, your moons are aligning to romance. Casey, you, me, mate. Things are changing. He reached his hand to the back of his neck, shuffling uncomfortably.

"_I know,"_ she said. That was not the reaction he was expecting.

"_You do?"_

"_Who doesn't? After today? They couldn't have been more obviously in puppy love."_

"_Exactly! I mean, today changed everything, didn't it? Wait… they?"_ he asked.

"_Calvin and Emily?" _she asked, oblivious. Of course, Calvin and Emily. Who else would he be talking about? Unless…

"_Yeah, them. Cute couple, they are. I'm gonna go to bed, night Casey!"_ he signed, turning towards the door fast. Casey shot up out of bed as he opened her door, ran to it, and closed it before he could leave.

"_Derek?"_ she gave him pleading eyes. The bright blue shining orbs burned into his with exasperation, and the most delicate mixture of confusion and clarity.

"_What, Casey?"_

"_You weren't talking about Calvin and Emily."_

"_Of course I was. Who else? Keegan and the s'mores?" _he was so good at feigning smiles, he almost seemed truthful.

Perhaps it was a month of communicating nearly solely with each other. Perhaps it was throwing the paper back and forth in his room, reading and arguing like an old married couple. Perhaps it was the moments they shared on the beach earlier in the night. Perhaps it was their hours of signing lessons. Perhaps it was the dance. Whatever it was, Casey picked up on the twinge of feelings in his eyes she never would have two months ago. Love and wanting. Casey brought her hand up to his cheek, and he was grateful she couldn't hear the small groan that made its way up his throat. He couldn't help himself; he laid his cheek to rest on her hand, letting her cup his face.

"Derek," she whispered aloud. Her voice trembled. He closed his eyes, prepared for the rejection. Instead, he felt her voice in his ear.

"Can we stop pretending?" she asked, vulnerable. His eyes shot open. Her eyes glanced to his lips, then back to his eyes. He put his arm around her waist, and she put her hands around his neck. With a sense of finality, his lips crashed into hers. She responded with the same enthusiasm, and soon he pinned her against her bedroom wall, her legs wrapped around his waist. Derek let her lips go momentarily, and they gazed into each other's eyes with shock.

"I love you," he mouthed, as his hands were occupied holding her up to the wall.

"I love you too," she said. No more signing. No more talking. They fell onto her bed, and Casey finally finished shutting off the light.

xxxxx

She woke up earlier than she thought she would considering she didn't get home until three and then she was… otherwise occupied. She glanced to her right and saw Derek, whose face laid on her bare stomach, sleeping softly. It was a near perfect first sight at the morning. For a first time, it wasn't like the horror stories she had once heard. It was the perfect first experience, and, though two months ago she'd have slapped herself in the face for saying this, it was with the perfect person. The smell of pancakes rushed through her nose. She gave a small smile, but then her eyes widened. The family was awake and her step-brother and she were laying naked in her bed waiting for freshly made breakfast. She felt bad waking him, but he would suffer a lot less than if her mom and George walked in.

Casey tapped his shoulder gently, and he stirred, looking up at her, a small smile on his face only to be met with worried eyes.

"_Oh no. You didn't overthink it already, did you?"_ he said, teasing her. She stuck her tongue out at him, but couldn't hold in a smile.

"_George and mom are up. Get dressed and don't get caught!"_ she signed. He kissed her lightly.

"_Good morning to you too, Spacey."_ Derek got up, and began to gather his clothes in hand. Suddenly, his eyes flicked open wide, and he grabbed his boxers off the floor, flying under her bed. Casey threw her tanktop on, and pulled the covers up to her torso. Nora walked in.

"_Hey, honey, breakfast?" _she asked. Casey nodded.

"_Okay, I'm just gonna go get Derek-,_" Nora began.

"_No, no! I'll get him."_ Casey signed fast. Her mother almost didn't catch it. Nora smiled and nodded toward her daughter.

"_I'm so glad you and your brother are getting along,"_ she said. Casey winced, and nodded.

"_Be down in a minute,"_ she said. Nora left. Casey leaned over her bed and lifted the blankets to see him raising both eyebrows at her. She smiled, and he crawled out from underneath. Derek slipped on his clothes, and he caught her gawking at his torso.

"_Can't keep your eyes away?"_ he said, winking. She rolled her eyes at him, and got up, slipping on her pajama bottoms. Derek came up to her from behind and ran his hands down her sides. He planted small kisses down her neck. Casey leaned back into him, letting his hands take her waist.

"This was unexpected," she said aloud, playing with his fingers. He spun her around to face him, and kissed her on the mouth.

"_But good, right?"_

"_Of course."_

"_Then let's go down to breakfast," _he said. Casey nodded eagerly. She could eat a horse. As they reached her door, she kissed him one last time, and they headed downstairs to begin the charade they would soon become masters of.

Of course, like all fine arts, the first try was awkward. Casey and Derek had to be sure not to touch too much as they descended down the stairs. The two sat down next to each other. The usual seating arrangement had changed once Casey needed Derek to interpret for her. Still yet, Nora was the only family member who tried to learn sign language. This disappointed Casey, but she never said anything. When pancakes came out, the teenagers loaded their plates, and began to eat like wolves.

"Hungry, you two?" George asked. Derek interpreted with one hand everything said. They both nodded. The last thing they had eaten were s'mores the night before, and the beach felt like a lifetime ago to both of them. Beneath the table, their ankles interlocked.

"_How was last night?"_ Nora asked. Casey dropped her fork on her plate, and began to choke on her pancakes viciously.

"_The beach was great, thanks! Calvin and Emily really hit it off,"_ Derek said coolly, dropping his hand beneath the table to give Casey's knee a reassuring squeeze. Nobody noticed. Casey saw the lights flicker, an indicator that the doorbell rang. It was a handy device. Derek walked to the door, and Casey sipped some water to calm down the choking.

Calvin stood at the door, looking alert and ready for the day. Emily stood by his side, trying to hide a smile at Derek's morning hair.

"_Good look, Derek!"_ Calvin said. Derek signed unrepeatable profanities. Casey got up to approach her friends at the door, leaving an empty plate where her pancakes once lain.

"_What are you guys doing here?"_ Casey signed, patting down her hair.

"_We wanted to know if you wanted to go to breakfast with us. But it doesn't seem like you are ready… Derek, weren't those the clothes that you wore yesterday?" _Calvin asked. Emily raised an eyebrow at her best friend, but Casey pretended to be distracted by her split-ends.

"_No, we'll go,"_ Derek said. _"Give us half an hour though, I gotta shower… go make out or something,"_ he said before shutting the door in their faces. The pair quickly thanked Nora for the breakfast and ran upstairs.

"_Half an hour, Derek!? We don't have time! Who's showering first?"_ she signed frantically. Derek opened the door, grabbed both her hands, and pulled her inside the bathroom, closing the door with his foot. The two kissed leaning over the counter. Derek pulled her back with him as he reached into the shower to turn on the faucet.

"_Conserving water!"_ he signed before kissing his way down her neck.

"Always trying to save mother Earth," she said, slightly pushing him off her. She ran out of the room, locked her own bedroom door, and ran back.

"_They'll think I'm napping or something," _she signed, locking the bathroom door. The two undressed each other, kissing silently, relishing in the forbidden nature of their romance. It was so sudden in some ways, yet long overdue in others. Casey: uptight, color-coded study note having, grade grubbing Keener stood naked in the shower with her step brother as her family munched on pancakes and bacon downstairs in blissful ignorance.

The water was steaming, and they took turns throwing bubbles at each other. Derek made a Mohawk with the water and Casey rolled her eyes at him.

"_You're a dork."_

"_Is this the time when I'm supposed to say I'm your dork?"_ he asked, pressing his forehead to hers. Casey flicked him.

"_Only if you wanna be,"_ she said.

"_Are you asking to 'go steady'?" _he teased. She blushed and looked down, feeling stupid for asking.

Derek pulled her chin into his hand and grazed her lips lightly with his.

"_I'm too far gone to not want to be,"_ he signed. He heard a knocking at the door and jumped.

"Yeah!?" he said, and Casey's eyes widened.

"Derek, hurry up, Lizzie and I are going ice skating with John and them!" Edwin shouted.

"Hurry up!" Edwin said grumpily before walking away from the locked door.

"_E-d-w-i-n"_ he signed to her. She nodded. Casey put her head in the nook and threw her arms around him, sighing.

"_What's wrong?"_ he asked, pulling her to where she could see him.

"_What are we doing?"_ she asked. He kissed her and shrugged.

"_No clue."_

They managed to run back to their rooms in towels without anybody seeing, Casey being quick to unlock her door. They dressed quickly to meet their friends, who waited patiently at the diner. When they walked in, they untwined hands. Something about dealing with everybody knowing was just something they didn't want to deal with. They walked in to find Calvin and Emily working on some of her basic signing, and they almost felt bad interrupting.

"Derek! Over here!" Emily called to him upon seeing her friends. Derek let Casey go into the booth, then slid next to her. Calvin and Emily already ordered their favorite pop before they got there.

"_How are you two love birds doing?"_ Derek signed and spoke at the same time for Emily's sake. The pair blushed and Casey shook her head at him, smiling.

"_Good, and you? Sexy hair this morning!"_ Calvin got his mini revenge on Derek by bringing up his Frankenstein-esq hairdo that morning. Derek glared at his deaf best friend.

"_Don't be jealous that I was still hotter than you first thing in the morning,"_ Derek said.

"_It was ten thirty!"_

"_I had a long night, okay?"_

"_So did we, lazy,"_ Calvin retorted. Derek opened his mouth to justify why he had such a longer night than he had, but Casey nudged his foot under the table.

Casey and Derek didn't eat after having shoved enough pancakes into their stomachs to feed an army, but they still enjoyed staring at the other two eat to make them uncomfortable. Derek and Casey bore their eyes into the figures across from them until they physically couldn't eat under the pressure. The two could not stop laughing, and it almost subsided the anger of their friends.

"_You two are in a good mood,"_ Calvin observed. They froze, but Derek recovered quickly.

"_That's what happens when you get to watch Keegan get snuggly with his graham crackers instead of Casey all night. It's entertaining!"_ the table erupted into laughter. Casey and Calvin were a bit louder than the other two, but it wasn't their fault; they couldn't hear themselves.

A man from the booth in front of them turned around angrily. He was a weasel-y looking man with a poorly grown mustache.

"Hey, buddy, how about you take your little retarded girlfriend and get out of here. Some of us are trying to eat," he said to Derek. Casey couldn't quite yet read lips, and based off the look on Derek's face, she should be grateful she couldn't.

"_It's fine, Derek, she's gonna get this sometimes,"_ she saw Calvin sign to Derek, but Derek was beyond reasoning.

"She's deaf you ignorant asshole," Derek said, barely holding onto his composure. Casey began to get a grasp of what was going on. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"_Derek, it's fine,"_ she signed to him, rubbing her thumb across his shoulder soothingly.

"Oh look at your little deaf girlfriend coming to your rescue, kid. I bet she's really loud between the sheets," the man persisted in getting a rise out of him. Derek's hockey player instincts took over, and he leapt from his seat, colliding his fist with the man's face.

They weren't allowed back at the diner, Derek went home with a bloody lip, and Casey scolded him the whole way home from her peripherals. But it was still one of the best days of their lives.

A/N: Finally we have some tangible Dasey. Review please? You guys really help how I guide the story.


End file.
